Railway.



RBAGIN. RAILWAY.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 1, 1911.

1,013,441 Patented Jan. 2, 1912 a i g] /i [27 7 2 li 2o (7 M l7 6W, @MWM jg I JAMES REAGIN, OF BLOOIVIFIELD, IOWA.

RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 1, 1911.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

Serial No. 624,488.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known' that I, JAMES REAGIN, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Bloomfield, Davis county, Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railways, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to providefor securing a railway rail to a bed or suport. p My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan, partly in section, of a portion of a railway embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the indicated line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation illustrating a joint in a railway track and embodying my improvements. Fig. at is a vertical section illustrating a modified form of one part of my improved device.

In the construction of the railway as shown the numeral 10 designates a bed or support which may be of any suitable material such as concrete, wood, metal, or a combination of any or all of such materials. Bed plates 11 are mounted on the bed or support 10 and are formed with spaced holes registering with spaced holes in the bed. Upturned flanges 12 are formed on the inner ends of the bed plates 11 and are formed with bolt holes adapted to receive a straining bolt 13 or tie-rod, which strainingbolt or tie-rod is threaded on both ends and is adapted to receive nuts 14 bearing on the outer faces of said flanges. It is the function of the straining bolt 13 to limit, determine and prevent spreading apart of the bed plates 11 and to relieve spreading strain from the bed and fastening means hereinafter described. Rails 15 are mounted on the bed plates 11 and preferably centrally of the spaces between the holes in said bed plates. U-bolts 16 aremounted in the bed 10 and have their threaded end portions extending through the holes in the bed plates on opposite sides of the rails 15. Wear plates 17 are mounted above and in contact with the closed end portions of the U-bolts 16 and are embedded in or contact with the bot-tom of the bed 10. It is the function of the bed plates 11 to prevent the rails 15 cutting or sinking into or breaking the bed 10 and it is the function of the wear plates 17 to prevent the U-bolts 16 from cutting or sinking into or-breaking said bed. The base flanges of the rails 15 preferably are formed convex in cross-section on their upper surfaces Clamping plates 18 are formed with concavo-convex marginal portions 18 adapted to'overlie and fit the convex upper surfaces of the base plates of the rails, inner margins of said clamping plates being adapted to contact with the webs of the rails at lines of juncture of said webs with the base flanges. The clamping plates 18 also are formed with slots 19 adapted to receive the threaded end portions of the U-bolts 16. The clamping plates 18 engage at their lower outer edges with the upper surfaces of the bed plates 11 adjacent the ends of said bed plates and are inclined slightly from the lines of engagement with said bed plates to and over the base flanges of the rails. Washers 20 are mounted on the threaded end portions of the U-bolts 16 and rest on the upper surfaces of the clamping plates 18, said washers preferably being wedge-shaped so that the lower surfaces thereof conform to the inclination of the clamping plates while the upper surfaces thereof form right angles with the armsof the U-bolts. Nuts 21 are screwed on the threaded end portions of the U-bolts 16 and engage the upper surfaces of the washers 20; and in use said nuts are set firmly, rigidly and accidentally-immovably on said washers so as to bind the clamping plates to the bed plates and effectually and firmly connect the clamping plates, bed plates, bed, wear plates and U-bolts. In such positions the clamping plates 18 serve as levers having their fulcrums at the edges contacting with the bed plates, the power being applied by the nuts 21 and the load being represented by the force with which the concavo-convex marginal portions 18 of said plates engage with and hold down the base flanges of the rails.

In practical use, as many of the clamping plates, U-bolts, wear plates, washers, nuts and bed plates may be employed as is desired and they may be arranged at any desired intervals throughout the lengths of the rails.

In Fig. 3 I have shown how my improved device may be employed to support meeting ends of rails and at the same time permit longitudinal expansion and contraction of the rails under changes of temperature. The gage of the rails may be adjusted by loosening the clamping effect of the plates 18 through the medium of the nuts 21 and after the gage is adjusted the rails may be fixed by tightening said clamping plates to the plates through resetting of said nuts. The bed plates 11 have sufficient area to prevent the jar and pounding of the rail from cutting into the bed, whether said bed be of concrete, wood or metal, and loosening the support; and the wear plates have suflicient area to prevent the U-bolts from cutting into said bed at their closed ends.

In Fig. 4 Ihave shown the bed plates 11 without the flanges, thus adapting them for use without the straining bolts when it is not desired to connectside portions of the track to prevent spreading auxiliary to the connection afforded by the bed 10.

I claim as my invention 1. An improvement in railways, comprising a bed, U-bolts mounted in said bed, end portions of said U-bolts extending above said bed, bed plates on said bed, rails on said bed plates, clamping plates engaging said bed plates and overlying the base flanges of the rails, said clamping plates formed with concavo-convex marginal portions fitted to base flanges of the rails, threaded end portions of the U-bolts extending through said bed plates and clamping plates, and nuts on said end portions of the U-bolts.

2. An improvement in railways, comprising a bed, U-bolts mounted in said bed, end portions of said U-bolts extending above said bed, bed plates on said bed, rails on said bed plates, clamping plates engaging vex surfaces of the base flanges, and means for binding said clamping plates to a bed.

4. An improvement in railways, comprising a bed, U-bolts mounted in said bed, end portions of said U-bolts extending above said bed, bed plates on said bed, rails on said bed plates, clamping plates engaging said bed plates and overlying the base flanges of the rails, said clamping plates formed with concavo-convex marginal poriionsfitted to the base flanges of the rails,

threaded. end portions of the U-bolts extending through said bed plates and clamping plates, nuts on said end portions of the U-bolts, and a straining bolt connecting said bed plates.

5. An improvement in railways, comprising a bed, U-bolts mounted in said bed, end

portions of said U-bolts extending above.

said bed, bed plates on said bed, rails on said bed plates, clamping plates engaging said bed plates and overlying the base flanges of the rails, said clamping plates formed with concavo-convex marginal portions fitted to base flanges of the rails, threaded end portions of the U-bolts extending through said bed plates and clamping plates, nuts on said end portions of the U-bolts, said bed plates'formed with upturned flanges at their adjacent ends, and a straining bolt connect- 7 ing said upturned flanges.

Signed by me at Bloomfield, Iowa, this tenth day of April, 1911. I

JAMES REAGIN.

Witnesses:

JEFrERsr-N BATTIN, ALEXANDER LUCAS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaiidressing the Commissioner of Patents,

7 Washington, D. G. 

